During the Marion County Board meeting on Tuesday, members of the County and Community Committee continued to discuss ways to fulfill the county’s obligations to provide animal control services for all county residents. Members considered buildings that might be purchased and converted into an animal control facility run by the county, as well as intergovernmental agreements with neighboring counties. An option committee members insisted they were not considering was making residents pay for animal control with a new tax.
Mayor Butch Mathus of Wamac spoke at the start of the meeting in public comment on behalf of several other village leaders in attendance to stress the importance of handling the animal control issue and that the county should do so without imposing a fee on the municipalities that will receive animal control services. Bill Henson, chair of the County and Community Committee, said that although the possibility of imposing a new fee on townships had been brought up in previous committee meetings, it was not actively being considered.
“We haven’t touched on extra financing by the municipalities in a while. That was just something that we brought up in discussion, not something we voted on,” Henson said. “To clarify for the board and the audience, we have not made any motions or any kind of action towards asking communities to pay extra on top of what they’re already paying.”
Henson reported the board was exploring possibilities of a temporary agreement with Fayette County for animal storage, a dual-government animal control plan with Jefferson County, and coordination with Clinton County. Options are also being considered for purchasing and repurposing a building to function as a county animal control facility. Though Henson said the committee had a productive conversation, no actions were taken during Tuesday’s meeting.
Henson noted that this was his final board meeting and said he felt confident that the next county board would be well-prepared to resolve the animal control situation.
